We missed our doc appt this past Monday because of weather! :(

The weather was bad so we missed the doctor appointment this past Monday. We didn't want to take any chances since it is so far to drive. Valerie has been having contractions on a daily basis since Monday night! We are so excited!! I got the car seats together (that was a job!) and clothes/blankets and such washed. I have their diaper bag packed and ready to take to the hospital. Jeff and I need to pack still and we'd better get on it! LOL! :)

Time flies when your pregnant!!

I have now realized how fast the 1 week appointments can arrive. I completely missed posting after the last one. We went to the doc on the 29th of November. The ultrasound tech did the scan and we found out that Baby A is head down. I was soooo excited. That means we can try for a vaginal delivery. Baby B was transverse meaning side to side. I did ask if they thought she would go head down after Baby A got out of the way or if they thought she would go feet first. Of course, they don't know and I didn't really expect them to know for sure, but I was hoping they could give me an idea. They would not measure the babies this time. They were only checking breathing practice and heartbeat. They will weigh them on the 6th of December....which beings me to that appointment.

We went this past Monday (without daddy....he had to unload cows!!!) but we took Jennifer's youngest son. He just had some nose surgery so he was out of school. We found Baby A head down still and way down at that!!! Baby B was transverse while the tech was in there but when the doc got in there she was head down kinda bent over. I'm telling you these babies get in weird positions!!! Well, doc did say we can go for a vaginal delivery still because he is sure Baby A won't move now. We are scheduled for 6am on January 8th if we don't go earlier!!! Baby A weighs 5lb 1 oz and Baby B weighs 5 lb 2 oz. They have been basically the same size every time. They were practicing their breathing and are growing very well!! We go back on Monday the 13th for breathing check and heartbeat check!! Hopefully I won't forget to post!!

Love Valerie's title!!

Gotta tell ya...that was hilarious! Just the way the gal showed us was funny. Poor lil guy! :) We have a lot going on!! Geez! Babies on the way...we are moving 6/10ths of a mile up the road (just a bit bigger house with 1 1/2 baths). My son is having surgery on Decemeber 3rd. I am having surgery the 16th of December but I am working on trying to get it moved up! A little too close for comfort (to the due date)! We both are getting our deviated septums fixed and some other things. Plus, Thanksgiving....so like I said alot going on but we'll make it!! We are touring the hospital on our next appointment (Dec. 29th) Jeffrey and I have our 2 yr anniversary coming up on the 12th of December too. I am hoping to get moved this weekend!! That way I can get the nursery organized and set up. Nothing like getting things done at the last minute! LOL! :) Ok....I am now getting stressed just thinking about all the above! ;0)

Her head is where???

We went to the doctor Monday and needless to say babies are doing great!!! Every measurement is right where it should be. The babies are in the 70th percentile for their weight. Baby A is 4lb 2 oz and Baby B is 4lb. 3 oz. That is quite large for twins at this gestation. Most babies, according to our doctor, weigh about 5-6 lb at birth so we are well on our way.
Doc wants to do delivery on January 7th or 8th. It seems so far, but it's really not. I could go into labor at any point now. I feel really good. Still tired, but good. Baby A had moved slightly. He is now butt down in a kneeling position. I hope he is on his way to moving head down. I would love love to deliver naturally and doc will let us try it. Baby B is still laying sideways. To be exact, her 'girl parts' are on his head. There is the sac that keeps them apart, but we thought that was pretty funny. It's amazing to me how they are squished in there and the positions they get into!!! We go back on the 29th and then weekly after that.
I have officially started packing. Just throwing things in a bag as I think of them. My kids are setup with grandma if need be and my sister is coming from about2 hours away to take care of them too! I hope everything is set and ready to go when time comes!!

1 Down 6 To Go

We went to the doctor and had a very good visit. Both babies are 3 pounds 2 ounces. They are in the 68th percentile for weight. They are doing great. We love getting to see them each time we go and we like the tech. She is very friendly and is patient with us. We tend to ask a lot of questions! She doesn't mind and will tell us if she doesn't know the answer.
Baby A is head up, feet down. Baby B is laying sideways. Doc says that if Baby A will flip and weighs more than Baby B, he will deliver them naturally. Baby A has to weigh more because Doc knows if Baby A can get through the birth canal so will Baby B. Otherwise we will have a scheduled c-section. I really trust the doctor to lead us, but delivering a breech baby does make me a little nervous. I do think there is a chance Baby B could go head down after Baby A gets out of the way. Who knows...maybe both will come out head first.
We will go to the doc 6 more times if all goes as scheduled. Doc thinks we may deliver January 8th or so.
Jeffrey and Jennifer are moving to a new house and getting things collected for the babies. I can't wait to see the babies room and see them in it!!!!

Valerie

It has been a long time since I posted. After Jennifer's computer trouble we had some here too. Hopefully we are all better now!!!

I will talk about myself first. I have been feeling really good lately.....except being very tired. I get up in the morning good but after lunch I can't function very well. Being a preschool teacher, I am out by 11:30 so i can get a nap in before I go get my kids at school at 2:45. That has been a huge blessing. I have been out of breath lately too. I am sure it's due to space in the belly. I was out of breath with my kids too so it's probably just how my body is. If I can get to the stage where the babies drop, I will know because I will be able to catch my breath again!!
We have started doctor appts. every 2 weeks for awhile. We were going to a high risk doc and a regular OB/GYN. Last appt. we decided it would be best to just go to the high risk doc. He is wonderful and we feel very comfy with him. They do an ultrasound every appt. and they couldn't be any more thorough. They check everything. They measure every organ and bone. I love that. They are keeping a very close eye on us.
If we haven't mentioned before we are driving 3 hours to the doc because of the laws in our state.....we are. That is also why they are watching close.

Our next appointment is Monday, November 1st. I am always excited to see the babies. They are very active and I know they are doing well. They move a lot now and that is always a good sign!! There is nothing better than feeling the lives of them in me. I am so thankful I am part of this.

Jennifer had her shower a couple weeks ago and, my goodness, she has some great friends and family!!! She received some wonderful gifts from people who have been praying very hard for us and the babies. They brought books instead of cards and several put messages in the books about the praying for us.

Well, I have had my nap now so I really need to use the energy I have to do some laundry and cleaning up. I never dreamed I would be so wiped out. I guess that would be a slight downside to carrying twins, but well worth it!!!

27 weeks and 4 days!!!!!!!!

I am SO excited!! God is so awesome!! What a blessing Valerie is to our family!! More ultrasound pics to come!! :) Last doc appt was the 18th of October! Now we go every two weeks twice then we are down to weekly appointments!!!!!!!!!!!!

18 weeks!!! We found out what sex Baby "A" & Baby "B" are FINALLY!! :)

172 ultrasound pics!! I am only uploading 4!! LOL!! It was so awesome to find out what Baby "A" and Baby "B" were!! It was pretty intense! When she looked at the sex of Baby "A" and said it is a BOY! I thought Jeffrey was going to....I don't know!! What emotions! He was so excited and happy!!

Then came the pictures of baby "B" and YES! It's a girl!! I was so happy!!! :) God blessed up both with what each wanted!! He is so awesome and we could never be happier!!

We had to go right out afterwards and find an outfit to bring them home in!! ;) Jeffrey wanted to get our baby boy a pair of carharts to wear home from the hospital!! I said, "Uh...no honey they like to be held close and tight not stretched out and stiff from the new carharts! LOL!! I told him we needed to wait just a bit longer! LOL!! :) It was great! Valerie and Steve seemed to be as excited as we were!!!!

BOY ARE WE BEHIND!! Catching up!! :)

WE HAVE FINALLY GRADUATED FROM THE IVF DOCTOR!! On July 6th, 2010 (3 mos. appt) we had our first ultrasound done with Dr. Watkins at Women's Specialist in Louisville, KY. Our first time to hear the heartbeat's too!! It was so awesome! Our initial experience with our doctor we found him to be very nervous...to say the least! We were definitely something special as far as us being a couple with a gestational carrier (a very special one at that!) It was a pretty eventful appointment. The nurse was really crackin' us up! We explained to the nurse that we weren't "a couple" too. LOL! It was pretty funny!!! She was a hoot!

Get it Right!!

We still do not have pics up. Soooo sorry. That is because we all are super busy. Jeffrey is a cowboy in charge of many acres of cows, Jennifer has her 9-5 job and I do babysitting daily. About 7 kids per day.

I had to fit in a tooth repair today, but I am fine.

I reason for my post today is because we learned somthing new the other day. Thanks to our lawyer he told us there is a difference between surrogacy and gestational carrier. You are a surrogate ONLY if you are directly related to the intended parents. Either related to mom or dad. For example if Jennifer was my sister, I would be the surrogate. I am not related to either of them so that makes me the gestational carrier. Thanks to Jennifer for changing our blog name from "God's Percious Gift Thorough Surrogacy" to "God's Precious Gift Through a Very Special Gestational Carrier"!!

Babes from the start!!

I am sooooo far behind it's a bit ridiculous. We have had 2 doctor appointments since I posted last. I have been incredibally busy and a little on the puny side. We do have pics from both of the appointments which will be posted soon. The first appointment was the last at the fertility doctor. We had our ultrasound that day and they are growing. Jolly rancher size!!! They were about 1 1/2 inches long and lookin' good. We do appreciate our fertility doctor and were pleased with the kindness and care we recieved from them.

Our last appointment was with the new doc. Dr. Watkins. We met him yesterday and answered a lot of questions. A lot of questions!! We briefly discussed delivery and things like that but mostly it was family history and how this even got started!! When we finally got around to the physical part of the appointment, doc could find only 1 heartbeat. I was not worried at all, but we did end up with another ultrasound just to double check. Everything is fine. Both babies were moving around and Baby B is a real mover!! "B" was moving it's hand around even had it up to it's mouth. B was also pushing on A's sac. I told Jeffrey to get his child under control!!! Baby A was not as active. Just chillin'. I wonder if that is a sign of things to come!?

I have been glad we have had a chance to see them at every appointment thus far. I know we won't see them next time, but it's been sooooo neat to see how they have changed in just a couple weeks between visits. I am totally convinced that they have been real babies since the first day!!! God has made them and noone will ever convince me that they were ever just 'cells'.

I will work on getting pics and you can see how they have changed. The nurse yesterday said it was a little tough to get them both in the same picture. Next time we see them, hopefully, we will see 'parts'!!!!

Jolly Ranchers????

I guess I should go ahead and update a little here. Jennifer has done the last couple of posts, so it's my turn.
I am officially 7 weeks 5 days pregnant. I am feeling pretty good except that I could nap at any given moment. A friend told me that when she was pregnant with twins the doctor told her that it's like having 2 parasites sucking the life out of you. How true that seems so far. I feel very tired, but that's ok. I have not been sick at my stomach at all. I would rather be tired:) I do know that I am eating for 3and so that has been a little challenging. I know I need to eat plenty of fruits and veggies so I am trying to do that. With twins I was told to try to eat about 73g of protein per day. That is a lot of food every day. I can't eat that much so I am just doing the best I can. If I eat that much I feel completely stuffed, but if I don't eat good I feel underfed. There is a happy medium. I am just trying to find it!!

Our fertility doctor will release us on our next visit on June 21st. That will be our last ultrasound there to check the growth of the babies. Last time we were there they were the size of gummie bears, so I am excited to know how much they will have grown by the 21st. I don't know.....jolly ranchers??? We will go to our first OG/GYN appointment on July 6th. I am excited to move to a regular doctor. It's kinda like we are moving to the next step already. Before we know it, Jeffrey and Jennifer will be holding their babies!!

2nd ULTRASOUND!!!

What a blessing!! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! Their hearts were just a beatin'!! ;)
They are growing so fast!! First ultrasound the size of a grain of rice now they are the size of a gummy bear!

TWINS!!!!!!!!

No words can explain our excitement, happiness, and gratefulness!! Thank you God for TWO precious gifts!!

Thank you Valerie for caring for these two precious gifts for us in the months to come! We cannot thank you enough! What a bond we have with you now and always!

Next ultrasound is on the 4th of June!!

2 Peas in a Pod!!!

Yesterday was our first ultrasound and we found out Jeffrey and Jennifer are going to be the parents of twins!!! There are 2 sacs which means they are fraternal, not identical. We were able to see heartbeats too. That was really neat because the doctor said it would be too early to see heartbeats. Doc said they were measuring very good size. Everything looked really good, so we were pleased. Our official due date is January 21, 2011. We will go back in 10 days (June 4th) for a second ultrasound and checkup.

I will get the ultrasound pics posted as soon as I can so everyone can see!!!!

Valerie

The results are in!!!

Now that we know the results of the urine test I will be glad to talk about how I had been feeling. I had been so tired the last few days. I do not take naps, but had had a nap about 5 days in a row. Also, some parts were sore:) I had a feeling we were pregnant but I hated to speak too soon.
When we got to the doc's office, we were immediately taken back to the room. I had to do a urine sample and blood work. My nurse came in for the blood work, after doing the urine test, and looked really happy!!! I knew right away! She couldn't tell us, but I knew!!! She is a friendly nurse but when she came in the room she was extra happy. They are all sooooo nice at that office. I am really glad we found it.

So about the meds......I have to keep doing the shots for 12 weeks altogether. I am on about week 4 so we are getting closer. I don't mind the shots, but I will be glad when that part is over. I am weaning off the estrogen slowly and I still have to do the aspirin daily. I am taking several different vitamins too.

You know, there has been nothing painful about this process. There have been uncomfortable times but that is only because you have to show yourself to the
doctor:{ It's been so nuch easier than I imagined. Now we are on to the next step which will be an ultrasound on May 25. We will find out how many babies we have.

GOD IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VALERIE IS PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!! Her BETA (blood test) was 511!!!!! I don't even know what else to say except that GOD IS AWESOME!! This is all because of Him!! We find out in 2 weeks how many!! BECAUSE....they put in two embryo's and both could have taken but we'll see in TWO weeks!!

Valerie & Steve:
Thank you so much for going through everything it takes to have a baby....FOR US!! So we too can have one (or more...hee hee) of our own!!! God is so awesome to have brought such special people into our lives! You will forever be a part of our lives!!! WE LOVE YOU GUYS!! (hug) (high five) LOL!

Are we there yet???

Tomorrow is the big day!!! We have waited so...unpatiently for 12 days:) It has been kinda slow getting here. This is just about all I have thought about all this time. I really am not sure what the outcome may be. I have thoughts both ways. We know we need to prepare ourselves for both answers. With a positive test we will continue to see our doctor in Kentucky for awhile. They will do beta tests for a little bit and then we would move on to an OB/GYN doc. Shots would continue until furthur notice. If we get a negitive test all meds will stop and we will try again. It's not that I don't want to do this again, it's that I don't want to start over. I am not a patient person sometimes. I want things to happen now!!!
We will know about noon tomorrow so I will post tomorrow night. Stay tuned for the results!!!!!!

valerie

Here are some pics from transfer day!!!!

Our awesome embryo doctor sent us these today!!! These are the embryos with the eight cells that were chosen to be transferred.

Jeffrey's friend called Friday wondering how the procedure went. He asked Jeffrey if the 'bun is in the oven'. Jeffrey said "Yeah, it's in there. We are just waiting to see if the dough rises!!!" I like that. Although waiting is the hardest part, it will be worth the wait!!!

No Turning Back Now!!!!!

Transfer day was awesome! We got to the office about 11:30. I had to put on a hospital gown and footies. Jeffrey and Jennifer also had sterile gowns to put on over their clothes. Our embryo doctor came out with several pics of our embryos. It was so amazing what they looked like. We had 17 eggs from our donor 15 of which were fertilized. They were growing like crazy!!! She called Jennifer and told her that they really like to see embryos with 3-4 cells and ours had 4 the second day (9 of the 15 had 4 cells). She suspected that by transfer day they would have 8 cells. We had 6 out of the 9 embryos had 8 cells!!! We decided that we would plant the 2 best looking embryos. She was very excited about that. The doctor told us that our embryos looked "textbook" and he wishes he had those kind of embryos for all his patients. After we talked with the doctor and saw the pics, we were all ready to go. We went in the room for the procedure and were done in about 5 minutes. It was so quick and painless!!!! I can't believe how fast it went. After I went back to the recovery room I had to lay still for 40 minutes with my feet propped. I got dressed and we left to come back to Jeffrey and Jennifer's house. My rules for the weekend are....do nothing. I have to sit on the couch, bed, etc. We will go back to the doctor on May 12 for a pregnancy test. I can't wait!!!!

Tomorrow is the big day!!!!

Well, our appointment to retrieve the eggs went as expected. Our awesome egg donor was a real trooper. She gave 17 eggs, 15 of which were good. We have not heard how many embroys we have yet. We should hear today.
I have been spending all morning getting ready for tomorrow's transfer. I have had my pre-transfer procedures and my medicines are working just fine. Doc said all my insides look super good.
I have to pack for my 2 kids who are going to a friends house for the weekend. I have to pack for myself because I will be at Jeffrey and Jennifer's on bedrest for the weekend. I also have to worry about my wonderful husband. He is awesome for letting me do this. He hasn't complained at all and has been super supportive. He will work all weekend so I won't even get to talk to him much.
I am super excited to do all of this. We will go back to the doctor in 12 days for a pregnancy test. I can't wait to see the results of all our hard work!!

To Jeffrey and Jennifer,
Thanks for the awesome chance I have to do this. I have always thought it would be so awesome to do something like this, but never thought it would happen to me. I am so glad God put this in our lives. Thanks for being a friend as well as the mother of the baby I am carrying for you. I know we will be forever connected no matter what!!!!
Love, Valerie

WOW!!

This is just so awesome!! I went to the back with the egg donor(no name for privacy) and sat with her for a minute before retrieval. When she got out of retrieval is was quite emotional!! She cried because she was so happy for us I cried because I WAS so happy it was just awesome!! SHE IS AWESOME! We all got our appointments completed and we'll see how it all goes! Knowing God is in this makes it so much more....at peace...I mean Jeffrey and I just know that this is God's Plan!! It all has worked out so completely! Everything just happened and fell into place without much effort from us! Valerie and the donor are such a blessing to us! We love you both!

Everyone is Important

Jennifer and I were talking the other day about the whole situation. Jennifer made it very clear to me how much she appreciates everything the egg donor and I are doing for her and and Jeffrey. In our situation, it is taking a lot of people to pull this off. We have mom and dad, egg donor,and gestational carrier. We also have my hubby and egg donors hubby. Our parents have helped with taking care of our kids while we have been to the doctor. We have worked really hard at getting our schedules to jive with the doctor visits. We all want to go together to appointments so we can chat and spend time together. We have made approximately 10 trips to Kentucky. We enjoy our time together.
Obviously, you can't have a baby without an egg. Our egg donor is awesome. One of the reasons Jennifer chose her is because of her personality. She is funny and outgoing. She has had a medicine regimen to follow to prepare her body. Last night Jennifer gave her a shot to release the eggs for retrieval tomorrow. She will be finished with her part after that. We really do appreciate what she has gone through to get ready.
We have to leave for the doctor at 5:30 am and I have tons to do, so I gotta get busy. We will post about the retrieval tomorrow!!!!!

Valerie

Save The Date

The dates have been set!!! yippee!!! Our egg donor was not getting her eggs excited until they upped the meds. After that her ovaries were working hard and she knew it. She went to have an ustrasound today and things look AWESOME!!! Plenty of eggs to choose from. We officially are going Tuesday for egg retrieval and transfer to me on Friday. I also have to go on Tuesday for an ultrasound. They did tell me last ultrasound that I have an 'awesome uterus', so I am confident it still is awesome. Please pray for all of us. The donor has a family and will be in bed for a day or so after retrieval. My hubby has to work all weekend and my kids will be staying with my friend. Jeffrey and Jennifer will be taking care of me for my 3 days of bedrest after procedure. I will update on Tuesday after all testing is done and eggs are taken!!!

Valerie

Are the eggs good???

Today we went to the doctor for bloodwork. They are checking me (valerie), egg donor and Jeffrey for any communicable diseases. I'm 100% sure they are not going to find any!! If they were to find something, that would halt the process. Assuming all is well with the bloodwork, we will go back next week for the transfer. We are also keeping an eye on the egg donor. Her folicles look good, but the eggs aren't as excited as hoped for. Doc increased her shots and that is helping. Hoping to have excited eggs on Friday this week so we can do retrieval on Tuesday next week and transfer on following Friday. It was a very short visit, but we had fun in the van chatting during our drive. We travel about 3 hours to the doctor. We really like her. We wanted to be able to trust the doctor completely and even though it's a bit of a drive, we were willing to do that for this doctor. It's nice to have a peace about the doctor you are putting in charge of building your family. I will update on Friday so we can plan for the transfer:)

No Pain, No Gain!!!

Well, I am proud to say that the shots are going extremely well!!! I have taken them every day with the meds and all is well. I did take my shot yesterday and it did hurt a little. Very temporary. I have a slight bruise, but it will go away. Monday morning I will increase my estrogen pill to 2-2mg pills per day. I was really thinking I would feel somewhat different because of the medications, but I feel perfectly normal. The side effects are the same as PMS and thank the good Lord I don't feel like that!!!
You know, some of you out there may be afraid of the shots and meds, but i want to tell you that this sacrifice you are making for someone is huge. I don't even know from Jennifer and Jeffrey's point of view. In my opinion, I wanted to do this for them. Not for me. I hear people say 'I could never do that'. But, you can. When you know you are doing something for someone else, you want to do whatever it takes. I don't want any glory for this or people to tell me how nice I am. I am doing this because I want to. I want to help people whom I have grown to love. They have a need that I can help with. If you have ever thought about doing something for someone...do it. You will make such a difference in their lives. You may may have to something like shots but the way I see it............NO PAIN, NO GAIN.

Valerie

Shots!!!!

Well, I did start my shots yesterday. I was not nervous about the shot at all. I was nervous about messing them up and ruining the whole thing. I am a visual person, so Tuesday night before bed I got out all the meds and supplies. I looked at all of them closely and sorted them out on the counter. I read directions and re-read directions!! Wednesday morning I got up and felt totally confident I could do this. I got the shot ready and double checked the medicine amount. I used the alcohol pad to clean the area and.....shot it in there! Quick and painless. Ok, let's clarify. I am not afraid of needles and I have a high pain tolerance. I did feel the needle go in, but I would not describe it as pain. A slight, pokey feeling in the belly. For any of you doing this, I hope yours is painless too. The needle size is 28 guage. It's the same needle diabetics use.
So, here are the medicines. I take 1 shot, 10u or 1cc, of Lupron daily. The shot goes in the belly under the bellybutton. Since I will do 15 shots all together, our doc, said to do each on in a different spot across the belly.
I also have a patch to wear now. It's called Climara and it's an estrogen patch. It is a transparent, flexible patch that I put on the top of my thigh. Be sure to shower first so the patch will stick to skin and not dirt!!!! I will replace this patch in 4 days with a new one. There are 3 of these. These are completely painless:)
The last thing is 2 pills. The first one is the birth control pill. We are relaxing my ovaries. I only have 2 of those left! The other pill is called Estradiol. It's an estrogen pill. In 4 days I will have to increase the dosage from 2 mg to 4 mg.

Well, I hope that helps any of you who are curious about the process. I wish I could explain all of this. I am just trusting the doctors to do what is best for us. I know I have said this before, but we have put this in the hands of God and I know he will protect us too!!!!

Valerie

Med Training!!!

OMIGOSH!!! I LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!!!! I got a little emotional when they had all the needles out and were practicing!! I am in awe of how awesome all of this is!! God is so great to have introduced me to such great people!! ESPECIALLY, girls willing to take shots EVERYDAY for me and Jeffrey!! This whole experience is just so touching for the both of us!! Things are moving FAST!! I can't believe it!! Pray all goes well for us and the girls are ready on the 27th and 30th of APRIL!!! The donor and I go for bloodwork and ultrasound April 14th, 19th, and the 23rd. Val, Steve, Jeffrey, and the donor all have an appt on the 21st of April. Val, donor and Jeffrey have bloodwork and donor has another ultrasound that day!!

We finally had our shot training yesterday. I will be taking 2 shots, 3 pills, and 1 patch. I was a little nervous to say the least. Our doctor was so nice and was very helpful. She had everything laid out on the table that we were going to be using. There were needles, alcohol pads, meds, fake tummies, pens and paper, etc. Did I mention needles?!?!?! The egg donor has her own regimin of meds, but I didn't pay much attention so I wouldn't get them confused. I will take 1 shot for 10 days in the belly. The needle is very small and is a diabetic needle. Then another shot that I will take will be determined by the results of the pregnancy test. I will have to do it for at least 6 weeks. The needle is bigger and will require someone to do that for me. Thanks God for my mom!! That medicine will go in my upper hip. It is a 'intermuscular' shot. The medicine is a little thicker and needs bigger hole in the needle. I have a whole bag of needles, medicines, band-aids, and sharp containers. We are ready for this!! I will stop taking my birth control on April 10th and start the shots April soon after!! I'm telling you, there is no turning back now. Our transfer day will be April 30th if all goes well with the meds. We have to make sure egg donor's eggs are ready and my body is ready!! I will try to post later about the meds. I would like to be informative as much as I can!!!

Valerie

Jenn's "FIRST" post - LOL!!

WOW!!! God is AWESOME!! He gave me 2 healthy gorgeous boys in my early 20's before having to get a full hysterectomy at 26 because of endometriosis. I was divorced at 28 and met the love of my life, soul mate, lover....my everything and got married 12/12/08!! He (Jeffrey) had never been married and had not had any children. He wanted children but I couldn't have any so we prayed for God to make it happen if it was in his plan!! HE DID!!! I went to Women of Faith and roomed with Val's sister who I had met at church (LFCC) but didn't really know very well. I didn't know the other lady at all. Both very sweet and that night before bed talked about our families and I had said that my husband and I would like to have a child but I cannot do it and would have to have a surrogate. Val's sister said, "my sister will do it!" the other lady said I'll do it!! I WAS LIKE YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!! SERIOUSLY!!! OMIGOSH!! Val called me the NEXT DAY!! She was SO EXCITED!! I was SO EXCITED!! OMIGOSH!! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! I wanted to find an egg donor who was thin, tall, and had green eyes....the first doctor (nightmare dr) said that would be hard to find. WELL, I knew a girl at work who would be great!! So I asked!! What is the worst thing that could happen she'd look at me like I was a nut and say NO! Well, she looked at me like I was a nut and said YES!! LOL!!! WOOHOO!!! How awesome!!! God is great!! At one point my egg donor worried me with a phone call because she was leary....oh no! GOD took care of it!! Get this!!!! I called my husband to let him know....he prayed (I didn't even think of that because I was so upset and worried!!! that should have been my first thought duhhh!! I was just freakin') She called her Dr. because she was worried about having to have her IUD removed and put back. A nurse answered the phone that had previously been....oh yeah....an EGG DONOR that had an.....oh yeah....IUD!!!!!! She reassured her that everything would be fine and my egg donor called me back and was A-OK!!! GOD IS WONDERFUL!!!!!! I got home and told Jeffrey everything was fine and that is when he told me he prayed to God and got all choked up!! I LOVE HIM!! So as you see from Val's post we are on our merry way!!! Tomorrow we go to Louisville to see the doctor (NEW awesome Dr) and go over the injections with the two gals so they know what injections to give where and what days!! I LOVE THESE GALS!! They are going to give themselves shots for ME and my hubby!! Crazy huh?! ;) OMIGOSH!!!!! TIME IS GOING FAST!!!!! We'll touch base with you after tomorrow's appt.!!

Well, I wanted to update since we had our ultrasound appointment. We had a Saline Ultrasound. That means they use saline to 'highlight' the uterus while doing an internal ultrasound. The procedure took about 5 minutes. There was a small bit of cramping, but nothing major. It really felt more like cramps in the back. Barely noticeable and gone in about 5 minutes also. If you have this done, you will leak saline for a brief amount of time. Go prepared with a pantyliner or 2!!
I wanted to explain a few of the medications we are taking also. I am taking 2 different multi-vitamins and will soon start a prenatal vitamin. I take 1 baby aspirin daily to help with blood flow to the uterus. It's only 81 mil, so no big deal. I don't worry about blood being too thin!! The last pill I take is the birth control pill. We are tricking my body into thinking that I am already pregnant. I don't know exactly how that works, but it does. I will be going back to the doctor in 2 weeks to do training on giving myself shots. The egg donor will be doing the same training and she is on the same meds I am on. That will change later, but for now we are doing the same. I look forward with moving forward!!! It is nice to be working with such a great doctor. She is thorough and has answered all questions and concerns. I will update as things change. We will be looking for OB/GYN soon. We have to be ready for the next step!!!

Valerie

well, before we get into the details of the process, i want to say a couple of things. #1- we have totally put this in God's hands. we have prayed specific prayers and they have been answered in a way that we can get it. like he's sending us a personal message. let's face it, this isn't something you can just make the decisions and expect God to go along with it. he has answered and will continue. #2- i have the most amazing husband. there are not many men who would let their wife carry another man's baby and approve of it!! from the first time i called him at work to ask him if i could do this he has blown me away. i tell him he is a saint for this. he will have to go without intimacy and when he gets 'it', he will have strict orders from the doc. he will take care of me when i am huge and can't do like i usually do. he will have to help more with the kids. he will be taking a whole new role. i love him for that. #2 is i would not do this with anyone but jeffrey and jennifer. the are the best. they are totally deserving of this baby. did i mention they want twins???? they are determined to take care of me and my needs. i want them to be here through the whole process and i know they will. jeffrey and steve have become good friends. they are like women when they start talking:) jennifer and i are a lot alike. we are both 'go getters'. to the point of driving our men crazy!!! there is nothing that will stop us.

i would love to hear some of your experiences. we are new at this and we are learning as we go. although i did some research on this, you don't know til you actually do it. we have an appointment march 11 for an ultrasound. they will be checking my inside plumbing. i am confident things are good. i had 2 great pregnancies and 2 unforgetable deliveries. i am going to make sure jeffery and jennifer have unforgetable experiences too!!!! i would appreciate any comments that are encouraging. there are a lot of opinions out there and we don't want any judgement during this. we have opportunities that we feel God is providing us with. we will not stop til He says stop!!!

well, i guess we should start off at the beginning. you know, it's the best place to start. literally. the way the beginning of the story goes is amazing. for any of you out there who know that God can do whatever he wants will understand. so, here goes the beginning.......





well, i have a sister who went to a christian convention called 'women of faith'. she had a great experience. she was very fortunate with the roomies she had. one of them was jennifer. alyson had known her from church so she was excited when they became roommates after some hotel drama. well, you know how girls are...they like to stay up late and talk. they were taking turns taking about their hubbies, kids and life. jennifer mentioned that she and her husband were wanting to start a family, but she had had prior surgery that would prevent that. my sister, bless her, said "i know someone who will carry a baby for you". i am sure jennifer probably just about wet the bed. seriously, my sis knew i had always wanted to do that for someone. i had experienced a little trouble getting pregnancy with my kids and i knew how jennifer and jeffrey were feeling.

so, let's fast forward from august 2009 to march 5, 2010. i don't want to bore you with every detail, but we may hit on some of those later.

jennifer and i wanted to create a blog for those of you out there who are experiencing the same things or thinking about going down this road to build your family. we hope we can learn from each other and have awesome experiences in the process.

right now we are at the stage of testing and pills. we also have some dates of testing and training. we have a projected date of egg retrievel from a donor on april 27 and embroy transfer on april 30. we have found a good doctor who specializes in this and we love the office. we are choosing to use an office in kentucky. it is a bit from our house, but we have to do things out of state because of the laws in indina.



i also want to tell you that jennifer and i will be doing the post together. you will hear from both of us. valerie will be the gestational carrier and jennifer is the mommy. steve is valerie's husband and jeffrey is the daddy.